Well written, good character development, touched on themes of growth as a human being, cowardice, betrayal and survival. Excellent read that led to interesting discussion.

One of our group thought the title was "unfortunate". The title refers to Clair and the book begins and ends with her. We discussed if she is the core character or is Trudy or Will. Trudy is initially a shallow character but we do see her develop into a complicated figure. Her relationship with Will both reveals her make-up and allows her to grow. We see her self-assurance mask her vulnerability. She is an opportunist, but also capable of loyalty. Some of our group thought Will's inability to forget Trudy is a flaw in his character and others thought it was a strength. Claire goes from naive to a realist. Her opinion of Will changes and some of us thought she was stronger than Will. Contrasting Claire and Trudy was fasinating--also their surprising similarities. On the whole we thought the book was thought- provoking with themes of betrayal and survival, and an interesting character study.